20 keywords duality mem - TFP based
by Darst
Summary: Relevant to my story The Creeper. Short mems for main acting characters. Currently done: Megs, Soundwave, Ravage, Knockout, Airachnid, Dreadwing, Starscream More to come
1. Soundwave

1. Light

Light was hurtful on his injured optics. Soundwave shut the visor. Only after he had purged the stains off his soul, he would take care of body injuries.

2. Dark

Many mechs would probably wish for the Golden Age to return. For Soundwave, the so-called "golden age" was as dark as it could be.

3. First

Soundwave didn't remember his first fight, his first kill. He wished he could forget his first interface. But he would never let go of the memory of the first stir of hope he felt and the mech that invoked that in him.

4. Last

Casssettes were Soundwave's last line of defence from the blackness that lurked within his mind. Losing Rumble and Frenzy left a gaping hole in those defences.

5. Fear

Those who mistook Soundwave's reluctance to battle for fear rarely had a chance to make same mistake twice.

6. Hope

False hopes were viruses. It would be inferior for Soundwave to succumb to them.

7. Drop

To Soundwave, a single drop of energon of a free mech was worth a thousand times more that a whole cube's worth of a slave. And for every drop of energon spilled, autobots should pay thousandfold.

8. World

They all loved their home world. But it deserved to be torn asunder.

9. Deep

Deep inside, Soundwave envied the ease at which Starscream could express himself.

10. High

When the stakes were sky-high, Megatron always sought to raise them even more. Soundwave admired that.

11. Fly

To fly, you must defy gravity. To fall, you just have to stop fighting.

12. Fall

The truth is, Soundwave had no idea what they would do when last of the autobots finally fall. With luck, they would not need to think of it for eons to come.

13. Shout

On the battle site, the blasts and shouts were deafening. On the command bridge they were just faint whisper.

14. Silence

Sometimes he felt his silence was a cloak that could protect him from anything.

15. Follow

"I will follow you to the Pits of Hell and back, if needed" - Soundwave vowed before the decepticon brand touched his metal. Megatron caught his gaze and gave him a slight nod. He knew the spy meant it.

16. Lead

When his cassettes were away for longer than anticipated, Soundwave found it hard to function: his Spark was heavy and even his fingers felt as though they were filled with lead.

17. Enemy

Sometimes killing your enemy is not enough. One slip of a wing - and you thirst for their suffering will remain unquenched forever.

18. Friend

If asked about friends, the first name Soundwave would come up with would be Shockwave's. The fact that your closest friend is a mech that denounced emotions tells a lot about you.

19. Life

Soundwave couldn't understand why human fretted so much over their lives. They were too short. Die now or in 50 solar cycles - did it really matter?

20. Death

If there was one thing all the mechs could agree upon - regardless of their faction, - it would be a hope that when their time comes, their death is swift and final.


	2. Megatron

1. Light  
Unlike many other mechs in the arena, Megatron welcomed the blinding arena lights signaling the new battle to begin. For strangely, only fighting to death made him feel truly alive.

2. Dark

Megatron looked at the shard of dark energon in his hands. If he lets it course through his circuits, it may change his spark forever, however... Power came with a price. There was no sacrifice he was not willing to make in order to win this war.

3. First  
Drops of energon stained the road. In the red-and-yellow light of cybertron's settling sun, the gutted chassis of a Senator looked spectacular, turning slowly on the suspending cables. The scene was perfect.  
"Clear!" - Megatron ordered and within seconds the street was deserted. The leader trew last glance at the first victim of the impeding war before following his comrades into the darkness.

4. Last

Megatron ensured every last one of the decepticons got his fair share of energon, work and back up. From the high command, to the last miner drone, being a decepticon meant to truly _belong _. To him.

5. Fear

They feared him - they all. Yet, they stood by him. He found it amusing.

6. Hope

Hope?! Let the weak hope! A true leader doesn't hope, he PLANS.

7. Drop

At first, the steel gladiator didn't take him seriously - too frail, too angular, with too many joints and those too long wings. Yet, it took Soundwave only a couple of breems to drop his sparkless opponent to the ground. The tribunes seemed to freeze for a split click, erupting in cheering then, as Soundwave turned slowly, raising his energon-stained wing up in a victory gesture. Visor preventing to see the direction of his gaze, it was impossible to tell if the navy mech was looking at him, but Megatron sensed a smile behind the darkened glass. Steel faceplates shifted into a sneer. He finally met a worthy adversary.

8. World

To build the new era of justice and reason, they first needed to tear the old world apart.

9. Deep

It wasn't until the fourth cycle of darkness, when the night was deep and guards too lazy to keep the routine up, that the soon-to-be rebels gathered to share in whisper and weak wireless what lay on their sparks.

10. High

Megatron wasn't high with the booze: the admiration of his mechs and them cheering for his victory were the strongest and most addictive drug.

11. Fly

When they first took Kaon, Megatron spent most of his free time flying above the city-state. After years spent underground, in tunnels, mines and abandoned facilities of the past, the wind felt glorious on his wings and the land below caught his breath with its tattered beauty. He stopped doing that only after Soundwave joined him to give his report and started it with "I knew I'd find you here. ". He couldn't afford getting predictable.

12. Fall

The Fall of Iacon was one of his greatest victories and at the same time one of the biggest disappointments.

13. Shout

As scary as shouting and yelling warlord might be, whispering Megatron was even more intimidating.

14. Silence

Soundwave's silence got on his nerves. Many times he felt an urge to just _order him speak_. However, he never did.

15. Follow

"I will follow you to the Pits of Hell and back, if needed" - it took Megatron four million years to finally understand what his TIC's vow really meant.

16. Lead

Some were sparked to lead, others were sparked to follow, his destiny was to re-define the worlds and make them all bow.

17. Enemy

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Megatron followed it to the letter. Though sometimes he wondered if Starscream had the guts to be his enemy after all.

18. Friend

The were no deeper wounds than those caused by the betrayal of a friend.

19. Life

Lives of his mechs were but tools in his hands. But it had been just, for his own life was no more than a tool as well.

20. Death

Treason is punished by death. For all he's done, Megatron will extinguish the Traitor's spark and all of those who followed him!


	3. Knockout

1. Light

Knockout would never confess it, but he enjoyed the play of light that his electrical shocker cast upon his enemies... or should we say "victims'?

2. Dark

It was beyond his understanding why his Lord preferred to keep the warship's lights dimmed. Everything looked so dull in the dark.

3. First

He couldn't tell who of them two was the first to start it. It felt so natural, that he didn't register exactly when they got together. One moment Breakdown was helping him with the finish, and the next they were already crossing wires.

4. Last

If he was to put together a list of mechs he would turn to for consolation, Soundwave would probably be the last. But you never know, right?

5. Fear

He never feared losing his partner. Turns out, he should have.

6. Hope

Hopes were sparked and snuffed in him a hundred times a day. He got used to it. After all, creation and destruction were the ultimate circle of existence and there were no exceptions to that. I mean, even Cybertron itself...

7. Drop

One drop of dark en and you're SCRE-EW-WED! He should carve it in marble.

8. World

He was probably the only one of the crew who found this world of fleshies amusing.

9. Deep

He liked this feeling of might when the doughtiest of warriors were spread out before him in deepest stasis. Their sparks were at his mercy. Not that he would ever do anything to harm them, for that he was too good a medic, but the feeling... It was his own secret pleasure.

10. High

A grounder among flyers... how high could he really climb? He accepted that second to Starscream was probably his best shot and even that wasn't really climbing the mountain, it was cutting off the top of it. And then out of nowhere comes Shockwave and takes the choicest cut! Unfair!

11. Fly

Watching the seekers surge up and perform complex flight figures following Starscream's lead made Knockout wish he could too... for a split click. However, he wasn't ready to trade the feeling of road cover against his tires, the rev of engine and the smell of burning rubber for anything.

12. Fall

Fall was beautiful of Earth. All those golden and red pieces of vegetation rattling under his wheels were a nice compliment to his crimson finish. Nice time for a race... and a win.

13. Shout

Sometimes he felt so lonely, he wanted to go to the upper deck and shout his vocalizer out. But that would be unseemly.

14. Silence

With widened optics Knockout watched Airachnid go down. Silence didn't stop Soundwave from making his point loud and clear.

15. Follow

He didn't realize how safe the sound of Breakdown following him made him feel, until that was gone.

16. Lead

Life among the decepticons was a constant race for Megatron's good graces and though Knockout had no illusion regarding his ability to lead this race, he still hoped to land on pedestal. Or at least reach the finish line.

17. Enemy

Sparked well into the war, Knockout grew on the notion of autobots being the enemy. However, unlike the veterans, he had no personal scores to settle with them.

18. Friend

Over and over again Knockout reached out to his fellows decepticons only to hit another disappointment. Either they had been incapable of sharing friendship, or they had no opening for new friends in their sparks. After a while, Knockout stopped trying.

19. Life

Despite being a medic, Knockout wouldn't hesitate to take a life on the battlefield. Scrap the enemy. He could then use spare parts to save lives on the operation table.

20. Death

His attempts to hide how deeply Breakdown's death had shaken him were futile.


	4. Ravage

Ravage. Post Chapter 8 of The Creeper

1. Light

In the light of recent events, he should probably lay low for a while.

2. Dark

There was really no such thing as "too dark" for Ravage. The feline's optics were able to adjust to any amount of light, and if that was absent completely, Ravage would switch to thermovision mode. Ok, the black holes were dark, granted, but who would ever look into them? What was there to see?

3. First

Being Soundwave's first creation, Ravage had been the closest and at the same time the most independent of them all

4. Last

Sometimes Soundwave had to scold his cassettes and call them to order. Every time he hoped that the effect would last. With Ravage, he was proven wrong over and over again.

5. Fear

Ravage's base programming didn't include "fear", however if by fear you mean "distress at failure chances increase" then yes, Ravage could feel it.

6. Hope

The feline didn't yet know how he would accomplish it, but he really hoped to succeed at his secret mission.

7. Drop

It took Ravage a vorn to master lifting energon cubes with his tail. But even though he knew their mass and measure characteristics by spark, there was always a chance he would occasionally drop one

8. World

Out of all worlds Ravage visited - mechanical, fleshy and otherwise, this scrapheap of a planet seemed the dustiest.

9. Deep

Regardless of what his primary functions were and what his basic programming said, Soundwave's wellbeing - all of it, - would always be the top priority; his devotion to his host was encompassing, it went deeper than any programming - right through the center of his spark.

10. High

Laserbeak may take pride in a notion she was the only one of them who could fly high into the sky with Soundwave, but Ravage had been the first of them, and the only one allowed to curl up beside Soundwave in his berth.

11. Fly

When Ravage first requested a feed when flying, Soundwave had been surprised. The cat never showed he could enjoy a flight. On the contrary, whenever flying inside a shuttle, Ravage had been restless until his paws touched solid ground.  
Flying in Soundwave was a completely different matter. Feel the atmosphere resist against his (Soundwave's) metal, cooling up to the point of freezing, enjoy the whistle of wind against his (Soundwave's) audials, watch his host navigate... Ravage couldn't have enough of it. It felt so free.  
By now, sending him a full feed was a part of Soundwave's flight routine.

12. Fall

In the heat of a battle it was hard to assess the situation. He eviscerated his opponent and located his host. Soundwave was on the other side of the valley, hacking through to the ship and Ravage moved to intercept, to help him...  
/GET THE TWINS!/ - Soundwave's transmission was somewhat frantic, and Ravage changed direction toward a hill where the two Cassettes were surrounded. Laserbeak was circling above them, indicating their position and shooting at advancing enemy. The 'bots knew better than to approach the two minicons, their capability to cause madness and destruction infamous. Instead, they drowned the small ruin where the twins were holed up in fire. "Hurry!' he heard Frenzy shout. Rumble was damaged. there was no way Frenzy would manage to get his twin out of there and all the way back to Soundwave while keeping autobots at bay. Ravage ran, without even slowing down to kill his obstacles. He was nearly on the two Cassettes when the grenades flew in.  
The blast was huge. He was blinded, hit... Falling... Failing.

13. Shout

Shouts. Running. Swaying of the floor as the ship abruptly changed course, Vortex disruption... business as usual on the 'cons warship.

14. Silence

Whie others may have thought Soundwave to be silent, there might be actually a vivid conversation going on between them.

15. Follow

Despite his modest class and size, Ravage was yet to encounter a target he couldn't take down or a trail he failed to follow.

16. Lead

After dealing with the twins on daily basis for so long, leading a bunch of eradicons was easy-busy.

17. Enemy

Soundwave had enemies. Ravage had targets.

18. Friend

If Doug thought he found a friend in Ravage, he was even more stupid than Ravage gave him credit for.

19. Life

What was an eradicon's life worth? They were mass production!

20. Death

Death was so stupid! Ravage despised it.


	5. Airachnid

_**I wasn't sure I would do one for Airachnid - given, that her role in the story is background at best, - but she was insistent, and I don't argue with angry spiders :)**_

* * *

1. Light

An interrogation room was kin to a theater stage - everything was of importance here. It wasn't just about the pain: words, sounds, even light worked together to create one perfect scene of fear and sparkbreak.

2. Dark

In Soundwave she sensed the same darkness that engulfed her mind. However, where he chose to fight it, Airachnid welcomed and embraced it.

3. First

Being Megatron's first lieutenant was nice, but it still meant to be the second.  
Airachnid would settle for the first place only. Even if it meant to be the first of just one.

4. Last

If given a choice, returning to the decepticons would be the last thing she'd choose. However, when Breakdown and the stupid gauntlet took that choice away, joining the ranks was better than getting scrapped.

5. Fear

Airachnid enjoyed fear she brought to life. Like a mother, she nurtured and fed it until it flourished. It was the most sensual pleasure to watch the fear grow and consume her enemies from within.

6. Hope

When she initiated intimacy with the warlord, she hoped for two things: for Megatron to be the right kind of 'facing partner for her deep desires and for them sharing a berth to strengthen her position in his army. Neither came true.

7. Drop

She was well aware of her own beauty - she enjoyed Megatron's gaze following the movements of her glossa as she liked tiny drops of energon off her long talons.

8. World

With a hive of insecticons to back her up she could take on the world!

9. Deep

Airachnid's deep contralto sounded inside insecticons processors. There was no way they could disobey it.

10. High

Some got high on high-grade en, others on their own victories - her drug of choice had been screams and begging.

11. Fly  
... or you could take a human, bring them up to the upper part of the atmosphere and then drop them down... wanna bet, how long they'll scream?

12. Fall

After Soundwave humiliated her in front of everyone, Airachnid swore that should she fall, she'd take the navy spy down with her.

13. Shout

Shout wasn't good enough - for she wanted screams - but it was a start alright.

14. Silence

Soundwave may have thought his silence would protect him, but she knew for sure: silence never lasts. You just need to push a little harder, to bend a little further and it will crackle like a cocoon and let out an exotic butterfly of terror.

15. Follow

Megatron was silly if he thought she followed his lead because of some nonsense loyalty.

16. Lead

Megatron could be a decent leader, she'd give him that. She just thought herself to be better.

17. Enemy

She was keeping tracks. The list of enemies to deal with was getting constantly updated. And though Soundwave had never been the first on that least, he never was out of the top ten either.

18. Friend

She didn't need friends. An army of servants would be more befitting.

19. Life

Only through pain could you know you were truly alive. Airachnid wasn't covetous - she was equally eager to receive and grant it.

20. Death

She had no fear for death - everyone dies eventually. But her death had to be painful, dramatic, spectacular!


	6. Dreadwing

1. Light

Sometimes during recharge Dreadwing had... dreams. In those dreams he watched the light leave cyan autobot-ish optics as his blade plugged deeper into vague autobot-ish chest. It felt so good. He didn't know if those dreams were sent by the Allspark to inspire or haunt him, for he was getting no closer to avenging his twin and that was tormenting him, but in the dreams... in the dreams it felt so good.

2. Dark

Dreadwing preferred the darkness of the deep space to this organic-infested rock. But honour brought him here and honour demanded him to stay.

3. First

Being Megatron's first lieutenant was challenging and rewarding at the same time. At first Dreadwing wondered why Soundwave helped him get the post, but as more and more duties were passed over from TIC to him, he got a pretty clear idea, why.

4. Last

Last time he and Skyquake parted ways, it didn't go peacefully. Now he wished he could unsay his last words to his brother.

5. Fear

The bomber jet didn't fear defeat - a warrior who had never suffered one was a foolish warrior. It was dishonour Dreadwing was afraid of.

6. Hope

When he returned to Nemesis after passing the Forge over to autobots, his Spark was heavy with his treason. But his duty to his brother was beyond anything. He knew, there was no way to survive this mission, he only hoped to kill Starscream before his treachery gets discovered.

7. Drop

It was so clever to drop that chunk of dead metal on him and pin him down! He had to admit it, Prime had become tougher over the eons that he didn't see him.

8. World

Decepticons were meant to conquer and rule the worlds, but Dreadwing always assumed that "worlds" meant Cybertron, Regulon and other, you know, worthy planets. As a WORLD to conquer and rule the planet Earth was...how to put it lightly... unimpressive.

9. Deep

He followed his leader deep under Kaon to the Prime's ancient tomb. Megatron asked if he was feeling repulsive against desecrating a grave and Dreadwing denied any effect it had on him. Only later, when he was looking at Starscream admitting desecrating the remains of his brother under the neuro-cortical patch, a deep buried suspicion he carried within him ever since helping Megatron to obtain a prime's arm surfaced. He suspected his leader would have turned his brother's corpse to terrorcon all the same. It was a scary thought. A treacherous thought. A thought that would cost him his life.

10. High

When he first learned of Soundwave's crime he wanted to beat the living scrap out of the spy - not for the sake of the eradicon, but to cleanse the disgrace Soundwave brought to the 'con badge. However, the spy refused to bite his baits and challenge him. Now, that he finally was high-ranked enough to issue the challenge himself, he was indebted to the said Soundwave. Dreadwing realised he had been played, and played masterfully. There was just nothing he could do about it now.

11. Fly

He despised Airachnid and all insecticons in general. They thought they could fly! If you can't fly in space you can't fly at all.

12. Fall

How could Breakdown fall for Airachnid's teasing?! The fool abandoned him! He fully deserved whatever hell she unleashed upon him now.

13. Shout

Starscream stole the Apex Armor, the Prime got away from him yet again, and he's got four dead seekers on his servos. Way to start on his new job. Dreadwing trew his head up and shouted off his frustration.

14. Silence

He still found Soundwave and his vow of silence creepy, but after working side by side for a while now, he could admit it wasn't that bad.

15. Follow

Following Megatron back to Nemesis after their clash with autobots, Dreadwing couldn't help but feel guilty for abandoning those seekers. They will hardly manage to survive. Yet he recognized the wisdom of distracting the enemy so they would make their exit unhindered.

16. Lead

Shortly after joining Megatron's forces on Earth Dreadwing started to wonder if their leader was still leading them in the same direction as when they started off. And why no one else seemed to notice this paradigm shift.

17. Enemy

He may have some respect for the Prime, but it didn't make him like the rest of the enemy any more. And it wasn't the kind of respect that would stay his hand in battle.

18. Friend

He tried to treat everyone fairly and at a distance. And now, with Skyquake gone, he didn't know how to fill the void. In the matters of friendship he had little to no experience.

19. Life

THe general principle had been "life for life, spark for spark", but in case of Skyquake's, he wouldn't settle for just one life. Unless this life was Prime's.

20. Death

He didn't expect to survive, yet death still came unexpectedly. He welcomed it - Skyquake should be somewhere on the other side waiting, of that he was sure.


	7. Starscream

1. Light

Light grey on dark grey with silver lining and a touch of bloody read. Thin and lean and deadly. If only he could shut up for a minute!

2. Dark

Three vorns of absence and a pile of dark energon was all he got?! Was this a joke?

3. First

Starscream might be Megatron's first lieutenant, but he never forgot that he wasn't the first first lieutenant. And as he thought about all the surveillance and communications that were controlled by his predecessor on this post, he sometimes wondered if his own promotion was just a charade to move the real power figure out of sight.

4. Last

"At last!" - Starscream exclaimed watching a decepticon beacon blink on the Harbinger's monitoring panel. It was time to pay the con's ship a visit. He craved energon (and company, though he would never admit it)

5. Fear

Even when Arcee's arm blasters were geared up and aimed at his face, Starscream didn't fear her or other autobots. He wasn't fearless, that was not the case. There just hadn't been any more place for a new fear in his spark. Megatron's wrath took all the place.

6. Hope

No energon, no spare parts, no one to talk to. It was so foolish! What hope did he have to survive in this flesh-infested world by his own?!

7. Drop

He didn't know what had been the last drop. Was it Megatron trying to offline him in a mine? Airachnid's teasing? Autobots preaching? It felt like the cube of his patience had been full several dozen drops ago. He had his full of all of them!

8. World

This feeling of power that filled him when he was leading his seekers into the battle... he wouldn't trade it for the world.

9. Deep

Two forces were warring deep within Starscream's spark: his desire to seize reign from Megatron, pay him back for all the disappointment and humiliation, SNUFF HIM... and his desperate need to earn Megatron's approval, make the warlord appreciate him, prove that he's going to be a perfect heir to the Decepticon Empire.

10. High

There was no higher pleasure than to watch a devious and elaborate plan... a starscream's plan... coming together.

11. Fly

All Seekers were addicted to the skies. Take away their ability to fly - and get yourself a snapping bunch of restless moody 60 feet tall robots craving for destruction. It was part of the SIC's routine to make sure all seekers got at least one flying assignment every third solar cycle. It wasn't energon-savvy, granted, but the alternative had been worse.

12. Fall

However low he fell, Starscream was willing to fall lower to get his wings back. Beg, kneel, lick dirt at Megatron's pedes, surrender anything - anything! - to get his T-cog back into his frame. If Megatron knew he had no T-cog... he would know the Seeker was completely at his mercy, he would not need to bargain for anything - why, if he could just take it all. However, Megatron surprised him. As soon as the warlord understood, that his former second had lost  
the one probably most precious thing in the universe for him, something shifted in the decepticon's leader vermillion optics. Softly, unlike his earlier ruthless words, the warlord asked: "You have lost _your wings_?" Megatron knew what it meant for a seeker. It wasn't some plot to trick him into another outrageous treachery. It was Starscream begging for his help as much as his seeker's pride would let him, reaching out to Megatron from his own personal hell, and Megatron would be slagged if he didn't pull him out. To whatever outcome.

13. Shout

Shouting Starscream was just normal Starscream. He raised his voice so often that even the vehicons weren't scared anymore.

14. Silence

A vow of silence! Just another pathetic excuse.

15. Follow

Sometimes Starscream's plans were too devious even for Megatron himself to follow. The glimpse of admiration that would flash in Megatron's optics when his SIC had to spell out the details of his new plans to him was immensely gratifying (though Megatron would probably never acknowledge it)

16. Lead

You have to admit, Starscream-the-Leader-of-all-Decepticons-and-the -Emperor-of-Destruction sounds pretty cool!

17. Enemy

There had been different kinds of enemies: enemies of all decepticons, enemies of the seekers, his own personal enemies. The last ones were his top priority.

18. Friend

Starscream would laugh at anyone who dared to suggest he needed friends, though it would really nice if some of Megatron's mindless followers came to acknowledge his, Starscream's, awesomeness.

19. Life and 20. Death

His life and Dreadwings death were two sides of one coin now. And Megatron was tossing that coin. Starscream froze, expecting it to end there and then. But Megatron chose life for him and death to the blue warrior. As the Seeker looked at his leader over the smoldering chassis of the bomber jet, he realised that it was more than his life that had just started anew - a new devotion was born in his spark. And it wasn't just his rival that lay dead at his peds - all the hostility toward his leader that he had accumulated over the eons died as well. "Don't make me regret the choice I've made" - Megatron said.


End file.
